XPhoenix
by Thought
Summary: We're watching Farscape! ...oh. we need money'
1. Chapter One

X-Phoenix  
  
By: Thought, with input from various others.  
  
Disclaimer: X-Men Evolution belongs to people who aren't me. All of the members of the Phoenix Force belong to themselves, but Chandra is mine, and Joseph and William kinda belong to all of us, as they are random characters.  
  
A/N: Pathetic title, I know. Now, this is an X-Men Evolution, Phoenix Force crossover. Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the Phoenix Force, here's a short summary. A group of teens, gifted with special powers, bestowed on them through a powerful magic curse, fight against any evil that might threaten. There are 12 in all, after everyone came together, which took about three years. They are divided into two sub-teams, Blue and Gold. Blue is lead by Reflector (Joseph), and Gold by Mist (Mia). There have been slight conflicts of opinion between the two teams, but nothing too major. (For PF people, this takes place before the major separation on the Space Station). More information will be provided throughout the story.  
  
Please note that I am just doing this for fun, and to let loose. Updates will be sporadic, as I still intend to focus most of my creative energies into 'Lesser Of Two Evils'. Also, I very clearly remember giving people permission to hurt me if I ever wrote an X-Men Evo fic. I'm hoping they'll be understanding, as I have been under a lot of pressure, and Evo is the only universe where you don't have to deal with ridiculous amounts of angst. Not that I have anything against angst, heck, I write it all the time, but I need something uplifting and fun. Please don't flame me. If you don't like the story, fine. I'm not doing it for you, I'm writing it for me. Deal with it. And if you do like the story, I *love* reviews!!!!!!!!  
  
Oh, and also note that I am a big fan of Storm, so she will be appearing quite a bit, along with everybody's favorite red-eyed Cajun, and probably a good dose of Kurt and Jubilee. I'm sorry. I hate Rogue. Always have, probably always will. I will still read fics with her in them, even as the main character, I just can't write her well. I'm sorry!!!!  
  
Now, on to the story! Have fun!  
  
*^*^*^  
  
Chapter One  
  
Daniela stared out of her window at the landscape, as it flew by at an alarming rate. Being packed into a car with five other people was anything but therapeutic. Mia was driving, while Chandra sat in the passenger seat, working on her laptop. So, that left Daniela stuck in the back with Joseph, William and Sanina.  
  
"Give me the gameboy, now." Came William's voice.  
  
"I'm almost done, don't have a spasm." Sighed Joseph.  
"Now!" William grabbed for the little device, but Joseph  
swatted him away like some random annoying insect.  
  
"Stop bickering like two immature, spoiled brats!"  
exclaimed Sanina, apparently losing patients with the two mails.  
  
"Sorry, mom." They chorused.  
  
"Grrrr." Sanina clenched her fists. Daniela laughed  
quietly, but shut up very quickly when Sanina turned her glare  
on her.  
  
"It's not funny, Sky Queen." She said between clenched  
teeth.  
  
"Nope, not funny at *all*." Daniela shrank back against  
her seat, and thought back on the event that had started all of  
this madness.  
  
It had been a nice, quiet Monday night during Christmas  
break, and she had decided to go have an innocent little chat  
with her friends on the chat program which Chandra had set up  
for members of the Phoenix Force.  
  
*^*^*^  
  
{Welcome To #Phoenix Chat! The time is currently 10:28 PM.}  
  
Goddess42: Heya  
  
Singing_Angel: yo  
  
Starmaster: back  
  
Singing_Angel: wb  
  
Starmaster: Hi, Goddess  
  
Goddess42: hia, what's up?  
  
Starmaster: n2m, just doing hw  
  
Goddess42: Ooo, fun^  
  
Starmaster: Oh yeah, loads.  
  
Goddess42: (  
  
Singing_Angel: holy crap!  
  
Goddess42: what?  
  
Starmaster: ????  
  
Singing_Angel: Joe just sent me this article about Mutants. It's about this place called Xavier's Institute For The Gifted or something. Apparently, it's a training center for some kinda Mutant taskforce or something to wipe out reg humans.  
  
{JD_Fan has joined #Phoenix.}  
  
Goddess42: Uh ha, and I'm having an affair with Joe.  
  
JD_Fan: You are? *looks shocked*  
  
Singing_Angel: Don't'cha just love it when ppl come in in the middle of a conversation?  
  
Goddess42: lol, and no, Mi, I'm not having an affair with ur bf. Promise.  
  
JD_Fan: Never doubted you for a minute. So, what's everybody talking about?  
  
Starmaster: Danny was just telling us about an article she found about some place for training Mutants to destroy humans.  
  
JD_Fan: *rolls eyes* Umm, ok. That's great. Tell me when the purple doorknobs come to Earth, then I'll believe there's a Mutant training facility.  
  
Goddess42: Look! A purple doorknob! *points*  
  
JD_FAN: *more eye rolling*  
  
Singing_Angel: *pointedly clears throat*, Anyway, this place is in New York, and it apparently is a school for gifted kids. This document says it's a training ground for Mutants, but what if it was a school for them? I mean, they're not exactly welcome in society, so it would make sense for them to go to a separate school.  
  
Goddess42: Careful, Danny. We could be construed as Mutants, too. Ur treading a fine line.  
  
Singing_Angel: Yeah, I guess. We fit the description pretty well. Super- powers.but no physical mutation.  
  
Starmaster: There's a lot of Mutants with no physical mutation.  
  
Goddess42: Yeah.  
  
JD_Fan: Maybe we should go check this place out.  
  
Goddess42: Why, Fearless Leader?  
  
JD_Fan: 'cause if it's a school just for Mutants, we might be able to get some help for the newer members of the Force who can't control their powers as well as us old-timers can. People like Air, and Electron, and maybe Saphira.  
  
Starmaster: Hey! Sapphire doesn't need any help with her power!  
  
Singing_Angel: Awwe, how cute! Amethyst's standing up for his girlfriend!  
  
Goddess42: How absolutely romantical!  
  
Starmaster: shut up. All of you.  
  
JD_Fan: *smirks*  
  
Starmaster: evil, evil people!  
  
Goddess42: And I take pride in that fact.  
  
Starmaster: You would.  
  
Goddess42: Yeppers!  
  
Singing_Angel: hem, hem. So, r we going to NY or not?  
  
JD_Fan: Weeelllll, *ponders*. Um, Danny, you'll have to get Joe up to date with this, you're not on my team. As for everybody else, or at least you two, *points at Goddess42 and Starmaster*, if u wanna go, then start packing!  
  
Goddess42: Yay!  
  
Starmaster: Umm, no.  
  
JD_Fan: huh?  
  
Starmaster: No. I will not sacrifice my Christmas holidays to go on some stupid PF mission.  
  
JD_Fan: Fine. I'm sure someone else will be willing to take your place.  
  
Goddess42: Yeah  
  
{Masked_freak has joined #Phoenix.} {Libitha has joined #Phoenix.}  
  
Goddess42: Heya  
  
JD_Fan: Joe! We were jus' talking about u.  
  
Singing_Angel: hi, guys  
  
Starmaster: hi  
  
Libitha: hi. Goddess, where's your report? If you want me to edit it, you need to actually give it to me.  
  
Goddess42: I know, I know! Don't kill me!  
  
JD_Fan: Who wants to go to New York?  
  
Masked_freak: U were talking about me?  
  
Libitha: NY? Why?  
  
JD_Fan: Yeeesss, and because there's a mission we've been talking about in NY.  
  
Libitha: Oh, goody^  
  
Goddess42: lol  
  
JD_Fan: There's what we think might be a school for Mutants, and we wanna go check it out.  
  
Masked_freak: Sounds fun. Is this an open mission? Both sub-teams?  
  
JD_Fan: yeah  
  
Goddess42: OMG! You ppl are never gonna drop the space station thing, are you?  
  
Libitha: No, probably not.  
  
Masked_freak: get used to it.  
  
Singing_Angel: *nods*  
  
Goddess42: *rolls eyes*  
  
JD_Fan: So? Everybody game?  
  
Libitha: sure, why not?  
  
Masked_freak: Yeah, what could go wrong?  
  
Starmaster: Don't say a word, Goddess.  
  
Goddess42: *pouts*  
  
Starmaster: Ah, why not? I guess I'll come. It's all fairly old-timers, so it might be fun.  
  
Singing_Angel: Yeah, I'm newest, but w/e.  
  
Goddess42: You fit in good, Danny.  
  
Singing_Angel: awwe  
  
Masked_freak: Yeah  
  
Singing_Angel: thanx  
  
{CP1 has entered #Phoenix.}  
  
Goddess42: how'd she get the address for the chat?  
  
JD_Fan: I dunno.  
  
Singing_Angel: I, um, need to go wash dishes.  
  
Starmaster: Homework calls.  
  
Masked_freak: sya tm, ppl.  
  
CP1: do u guys not like me or something?  
  
Goddess42: We like you, CP1, it's just, wherever u go, trouble follows. Later, guys.  
  
{Goddess42 has shut down #Phoenix.}  
  
*^*^*^  
  
That had been two days ago. Now Daniela was regretting going along with this wild little jaunt out-of-country and to The Big Apple a *lot*. It was hard enough getting passports, but she now thought that she would much rather spend her time on the phone with the people who got that sort of thing organized, then in this particular car, with this particular group of people.  
  
"Food!" called Mist. Everyone perked up at this proclamation, and Daniela leaned forward between the seats.  
  
"Where?" she asked.  
  
"There's a Tim Horton's up ahead. We may as well enjoy it while we can. They don't have them in the U.S."  
  
"No Tim Horton's?!" Chandra jerked upright, slamming her laptop screen down. "How do they survive? I mean, in Canada, there's one like, every five blocks!"  
  
"No iced-caps!" exclaimed Daniela, just now grasping the concept.  
  
"AAHH!" Chandra went pail. "No iced-caps?"  
  
Mia sighed. "I'm sure there'll be iced-caps in the U.S." she tried to calm the two coffee addicts down.  
  
"Yeah." William nodded wisely. Chandra kicked him. Hard.  
  
"Ouch!" he cried. "What was that for?"  
  
"For existing." Replied the telecoersic.  
  
"Ok, do you guys want to go through the drive-through or just go in?" asked Mia as they approached the restaurant.  
  
"Go in." chorused Chandra and Joseph.  
  
"I need to stretch my legs." Agreed Sanina.  
  
"Ok, 'to stay' it is." Nodded Mia.  
  
"I can't wait til we get to New Yrok!" moaned William.  
  
"When do we get there?" asked Chandra.  
  
"Not for *quite* a while." Sighed Mia, resting her head against the steering wheel when they parked.  
  
"Don't worry, Mia, we'll try not to get on your nerves." Sanina reassured her.  
  
"Yeah." Nodded Joseph, resting a hand on Mia's shoulder.  
  
"Got it!" William leapt from the car, clutching the gameboy.  
  
"You're a dead man!" Joseph was right behind him.  
  
"COOOOOFFFFFFFFEEEEEEE!!!" was all Mia heard from Daniela and Chandra as they made a run for the front door of the restaurant.  
  
"Like I said before," said Sanina. "Don't worry! Only about a week of this!"  
  
Mia began pounding her head into the dashboard. It was going to be a *long* week.  
  
And there ends the first Chapter! Wow! Confused? You have a right to be. I just read through that, and well, I'll give more info in the next chapter, but it's late, and I'm tired. So, gnight! And please review? It doesn't take long. Oh, and if this is really bad, and you absolutely can't stand it, and others agree with you, I'll take it down, delete it and pretend it was all just a bad dream. 


	2. Chapter Two

X-Phoenix  
  
Disclaimer: see ch1  
  
A/N: Thanks to S.Q for the review! I changed the spelling! Promise!  
  
Ok, just a note, I don't like the Evo version of Storm. I'm sorry. I don't think many people do. So, just imagine she's about 24ish, has no living relatives, and is a little more daring then the real Evo Storm. I'm sorry, this means no Evan. I couldn't write him even if I wanted to, anyway. I haven't seen enough episodes with him in them. But I finally figured out where Evan came from! Like, the idea? He's a mail counterpart to Marrow!!! *Pats self on back*  
  
So, I'm going to see a movie now, so I must leave, so pretty please enjoy the chapter, and review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
*^*^*^^*^*^  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Kitty Pride stood in the office of Professor Charles Xavier, along with the rest of the X-Men. The Professor had called them all to his office as soon as they had returned from the shopping trip that Kitty and Jubilee had been pleading for. No one knew why, not even the teachers. Xavier hadn't arrived yet, a fact, which Kitty found strange in itself, as he was the one whom had called the meeting in the first place.  
  
"Rogue, do you know, like, what's going on?" she asked the Goth girl standing beside her.  
  
"Ah already told ya, Kit, ah haven't got the foggiest idea what's happening."  
  
"Well, sorry." Kitty turned to look over at Scott where he stood, talking quietly with Storm, Jean and Beast. They all looked confused and worried. She made her way over to them, and tapped Jean on the shoulder. "Do you guys know what's going on?" she asked when Jean turned toward her.  
  
"No." she shook her head. "The Professor's in Cerebro right now, and he hasn't told anyone what's going on."  
  
"Something must be wrong." Observed Scott, his frown becoming even more pronounced.  
  
"I'm sure everything is fine." Ororo reassured the students. "The Professor will explain everything in due course."  
  
"Uhha..." Kitty moved away to join Kurt, where he sat with Jubilee and Bobby.  
  
"Kurt," she said. "The Professor's apparently in Serebro. He still hasn't told anyone what's going on!"  
  
"Well," commented Jubilee. "I wish he'd just called us when he was done. I don't particularly like sittin' here waitin' for him to show up! This is not how I envisioned my afternoon!"  
  
"I couldn't agree more." Nodded Bobby.  
  
"I hope the Professor gets here soon." Murmured Kurt.  
  
"Me too." Agreed Kitty.  
  
"Finally!" came an exclamation from the other side of the office, and Kitty turned to see Professor Xavier entering the room.  
  
"Hello, my X-Men." He spoke clearly, and his voice carried richly throughout the office.  
  
"Charles! What is going on?" asked Storm.  
  
"Yeah! We have been waiting here forever!" agreed Jean.  
  
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long," said the Professor. "But I believe we may have a very large threat on our hands."  
  
"Huh? From what?" asked Kitty.  
  
"Earlier this morning, I began to feel a stirring on the psychic plain." The Professor began his explanation. "At first it was no more than a slight movement, and I was not concerned. However, it continued to get stronger, and before long I felt a very distinct presence. It did not have the same feeling as a powerful telepath, so I decided to use Cerebro to attempt to locate it. Using Cerebro, however, turned out to be painful."  
  
"Painful?" asked Beast.  
  
"It's never hurt you before." Scott looked even more worried.  
  
"No, it hasn't." agreed the Professor. "So I continued to try, thinking it perhaps nothing more than a fluke."  
  
"Somehow I don't think it was." Muttered Jean.  
  
"No." Xavier nodded. "After a while, I became slightly acclimated to the pain, and was able to scan for the presence for a short amount of time."  
  
"And?" Logan prodded.  
  
"I could not pinpoint a location, however I am quite sure that what I felt was evil." Said Xavier firmly. "Not just evil, but also quite powerful."  
  
"How powerful are we talking, here?" asked Scott.  
  
"Powerful enough that if it wanted to, it could wipe out all life on Earth. Human, and Mutant."  
  
"Isn't that a little, well, sci-fiish?" asked Bobby skeptically.  
  
"Yeah, it sounds more like a cheesy super-hero movie." Added Jubilee.  
  
"I admit that it is hard to fathom, and we don't even know what its intentions are." Said Xavier. "However, if we are faced with this...being, then I wish us to be prepared."  
  
"Right." Scott nodded, and turning to the rest of the team. "Ok, people, double Danger Room workouts starting today."  
  
"Scott!" wined Bobby.  
  
"I'm afraid that Scott is correct." Cut in the Professor. "It would be prudent to do as much training as possible before this, whatever it is, decides to attack."  
  
"Don't worry, Professor, we'll be ready." Scott assured his mentor.  
  
"I have no doubt in you." He smiled. "You are all more powerful than you believe, and I think it is time to begin trying to pull out that extra power."  
  
Everyone nodded, though some more enthusiastically than others. "Okay, team, Danger Room! Let's go!" called Scott, and the office emptied quickly, leaving Storm, Beast and Wolverine alone with the Professor.  
  
"So, who wants monitor duty today?" asked Logan, flopping back into a chair.  
  
"I believe it's Hank's turn." Said Ororo.  
  
"Actually," said Xavier. "I will be monitoring all Danger Room practices from now on. I want you three to train with the students. I will need *all* of the X-Men at peak efficiency, including you."  
  
"I see." Dr. McCoy nodded. "A wise precaution, Professor."  
  
"You will be under Cyclops' command, as are all of the other X-Men."  
  
"What?!" Logan leapt to his feet. "You want us ta take orders from one of the kids?!"  
  
Xavier nodded. "Though you are all older than Scott, he has been trained as a leader. I have every faith in your abilities, however Scott needs to remain in control of the entire team. I know that this will be hard for all of you, however I expect that you will put aside your personal differences and learn to deal with it."  
  
"Of course, Professor." Nodded Storm. Logan grumbled under his breath, and Hank frowned deeply, but they all made their way towards the Danger Room.  
  
Xavier sighed. He knew that it would be very hard for the adults to transform from the supervisors, to full members of the team, but he also knew it was necessary. Storm would, he decided, have the least trouble, as she was no more than five years older than Scott, anyways. Logan would definitely have the hardest time during the transition, as his free spirit and strong will would clash with Scott's decision a *lot* of the time. Suddenly, an idea struck him.  
  
"Co-leaders." he murmured thoughtfully. He could easily see Scott and, he had to think for a moment here, Scott and Ororo, as co-leaders. Neither with more power than the other. Scott's down-to-Earth, strict, controlled manner of making choices, balanced out with Ororo's wisdom, confidence and awareness *when* to break the rules, would make a perfect team. Smiling to himself, Xavier made his way out of the office.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^  
  
"We got coffee, yes we did, we got coffee, yes we did!" Chandra and Daniela were practically jumping out of their skin as they sat in the back seat of the car, singing at the top of their lungs.  
  
"Shut the hell up!!!!!!!!" William exploded from beside them. They only sang louder.  
  
"Who let them have caffeine?" demanded Mia.  
  
"They got it before we could stop them!" replied Reflector from the driver's seat.  
  
"Anybody got a tranq gun?!" asked William hopefully.  
  
"Sanina might." Suggested Joseph weakly.  
  
"Hey! Healer!" William yelled at Sanina across the back seat. She was deep in a book, and didn't reply.  
  
"Nina! You awake?!" called Mia.  
  
Sanina reached up and pulled out earplugs. "What was that?"  
  
"Do ya got a tranq gun for those two?!" asked William, his hand darting out to try and grab the earplugs.  
  
"I don't make it a habit of carrying around a tranquilizer, William." She informed him, pulling her earplugs protectively against her chest.  
  
"Why not?" groaned Joseph.  
  
However, Sanina had already put the earplugs back in, and was humming away happily to herself.  
  
"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer! You take one down, pass it around, you've got ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall!"  
  
William reached over and put a hand firmly over Chandra's mouth. Mia leaned back to do the same thing to Daniela.  
  
"Ah, peace at last." Smiled Joseph.  
  
Suddenly Chandra went stiff and jerked away from William's hand. "Hey, you ok, Goddess?" asked William worriedly.  
  
Chandra didn't respond, but her breathing had increased, and her gray eyes had gone blank and glassy.  
  
"Something's wrong with her!" William said sharply, panic starting to creep up on him.  
  
"Chandra? Hey, Goddess! Snap out of it!" Daniela waved her hand in front of Chandra's face. Sanina tossed the book and earplugs aside and leaned over Daniela to have a look at Chandra. Frowning, the healer lifted a hand and placed it on the black-haired girl's white-skinned face. The faint golden energy that everyone had learned to associate as Sanina's healing abilities at work emanated from where Sanina had her palm pressed. Chandra shuttered, and her eyes lost the glassy look.  
  
"Hey, Chan, are you ok?" asked Mia.  
  
Chandra seemed to shake something off, and turned to look at Mia. "Yeah, I'm fine. No worries. I just got this really weird feeling, like something, um, evil, I guess. Probably nothing. If Artemis were here, I'd have her verify it, she's got enough telepathy to do that, but she's not, and this is supposed to be a fun trip. So, you can just ignore me, now."  
  
No one looked convinced. "If you're sure." Mia didn't look pleased. She did not like it when members of her team began spacing out. That just can never be good.  
  
Chandra gave a bright smile and shrugged. "I'm all good. Don't worry!" An evil glint came into her eyes and she whispered to Daniela. Daniela's face broke out in a maniacal grin, and they began to sing.  
  
"This is the song that never ends..."  
  
*^*^*^*^  
  
There! Chapter Two is over and done!! I feel accomplished, now! I'll feel even better if you review! Pretty please? 


	3. Chapter Three

X-Phoenix  
  
Chapter Three  
  
By: Thought  
  
A/N: It lives! Not that anybody cares. Ok, seriously, if you're reading this, please, please review! I'm starting to think I'm doing all this work for nothing... Anyways, the next chapter will be up very soon, as I know exactly what I want to happen!  
  
Disclaimer: Humpty Dumpty was pushed...  
  
*^*^*^*^  
  
Scott stared out over the assembled Mutants in front of him. Jean, Kitty, Rogue, Bobby, Jubilee, Kurt, Sam and Amara. They all stood in the Danger Room, waiting for the simulation to begin. They were, therefore, quite surprised to see the doors to the Danger Room sliding open, to admit Beast, Storm and Wolverine. Logan looked ready to rip something's throat out, and Beast looked pensive. Storm had a neutral expression, remaining calm as per usual.  
  
"Uh...hi," Scott finally managed. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothin's wrong, kid," muttered Logan. "Chuck's jus' got some crazy idea 'bout us trainin' with ya."  
  
"You guys?" Kitty piped up. "But who's gonna, like, monitor us?"  
  
"The Professor will be monitoring from now on," explained Hank.  
  
"Storm, Cyclops. Please come out for a moment," Professor Xavier's voice rang out over the group. Scott and Jean, and Ororo and Logan exchanged curious looks. The two made their way from the Danger Room, meeting the Professor outside in the metallic hall.  
  
"You wanted to see us, Professor?" asked Scott.  
  
"Yes," Xavier affirmed. "Scott, I don't know whether the teachers have told you, but they will be joining the team as full and permanent X- Men, beginning as of now."  
  
Scott looked surprised. "The teachers, Sir?" he asked.  
  
The other man nodded. "The team will remain under your command, however, I think, as an addition, you and Storm will share the burden of leadership, as co leaders."  
  
'In other words,' thought Scott darkly, 'He doesn't think a kid like me can handle a battle as big as this one, and he's taking the reigns and giving them to a *much* more responsible adult. Apparently, we're too immature and inexperienced to play with the big kids.'  
  
Xavier's face became troubled. *Scott,* came his voice in the younger man's mind. *That's not it at all. I simply think that the others, especially Logan, will be more receptive to anything you may decide if there is another supporting you. And also, I believe that your strict adherence to the rules can cause some dislike from other team members. You are an excellent leader Scott, however it never hurts to have backup. And to be quite honest, with the approaching danger, I wouldn't fully trust the leadership of the X-Men in the hands of any one person, student or teacher. You are not losing your position, just gaining another mind. Listen to her ideas, and she'll listen to yours. Remember, your relationship while in your rolls as X-Men is not that of student and teacher, but of equal teammates.*  
  
Scott nodded, but he still had one question. *Professor, what if, when there's no time to consult the team, and Miss Mu...I mean, Storm and I have a disagreement, who will have the last say?*  
  
Xavier's brow knitted in thought. He had been dreading this question. Finally, gazing at Scott, and then at Ororo, he decided that it was time to show some unwavering faith in his devoted young leader. Out loud he said, "If there is no time to ask the team, and you are in disagreement, it will be Scott who has the right to overrule and make the final decision." He put up a hand, forestalling any words the two may have had. "However, I expect you both to remember that this is a partnership, and Scott will only have to do this in *extreme* circumstances. I expect you to both work together. Both nodded their heads. "If that's all, Charles?" Ororo asked with a smile.  
  
"I don't want you to train today. The others will be going through basic training programs, hardly something needing a leader. I would like you both to take the Blackbird to Canada."  
  
"Another missing piece of Logan's past?" asked Scott dryly.  
  
"No," Xavier shook his head. "I have detected a large group of Mutants moving towards the boarder. I would like for you to go and intercept them, and try to get them to come back to the institute."  
  
"Could you tell how many?" asked Ororo.  
  
"I would have to guess, but approximately between four and seven." He answered.  
  
"We'll get right on it." Said Scott briskly.  
  
"Thank you, and good luck. Hope to see you soon." Smiled Xavier as he moved off down the hall. Scott looked at Ororo, and she returned the gaze steadily.  
  
Finally he said, "Shall we go?" and started off down the hall to the hangar, Ororo right beside him.  
  
*^*^*^*^  
  
"Now I'm towing my car, There's a whole in the roof, My possessions are causing me suspicion, But there's no proof.  
  
In the paper today, Tells of war and of waist, But you turn right over, To the TV page."  
  
Having run out of annoying songs to sing at the top of their lungs, Daniela and Chandra had started in on more contemporary songs. Surprisingly, after a while, the rest of the group had joined in. Now they were driving along, singing whatever songs they could think of. Chandra's previous episode had been all but forgotten. It was late into there second day of driving, and the coffee had begun to where off. At about seven, Mia announced, "And we're coming up on the boarder, which means passports and all that crap, people!"  
  
"How long till we're in the US?" asked Chandra.  
  
"About an hour to the boarder, then I don't know how long for boarder patrol and that stuff." Answered Joseph.  
  
"Funkness!" Chandra grinned excitedly.  
  
"When my Grandmother held me for the very first time, She thanked God that I looked like my Daddy. And I never gave a damn just what she meant, I only knew she was a little too happy, And now I see.  
  
You can't change a stubborn mind, You can't see the world if your eyes are blind. What does it matter anyway? In our darkest hour, All just shades of gray." Chandra's clear voice rang out, joined by Mia's, almost identical to Chandra's, and Joseph's rich tones soon after.  
  
"Ow..." Daniela winced as she tried to move her cramped leg. "Can we have a rest stop soon?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Yes, absolutely, but no more coffee!" declared Mia.  
  
"Vanilla Pepsi?" asked Chandra, at the same time Daniela asked,  
  
"Iced Tea?"  
  
"No!" the entire car erupted.  
  
"Jees! We were just asking!" Chandra stuck out her bottom lip. A moment later she asked, "Just a little coffee?"  
  
Mia glared back at her. Chandra shut up. Fast.  
  
*^*^*^ There! Oh, and, BTW, the song the gang was singing is Don't Dream It's Over, by Sixpence None The Richer. Very, very good song. And the other song is Shades Of Gray, by Amanda Marshall.  
  
Pretty please review, with Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom *and* Remy Lebeau on top?!!!!!!!!!! I'll give you a cookie! 


	4. Chapter Four

A/N: It lives!!! And this is definitely my longest chapter yet! Yay! *g* But, honestly, is no one reading this? I mean, I'm starting to get the feeling that I could make this a *shutter* Scott/Ororo story, and kill the Phoenix Force, and turn everyone into Flying Monkeys with solitary blades of grass on their heads, and nobody would even bat an eyelash!  
  
*^*^*^*^*^ X-Phoenix  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Disclaimer: Test? What test? No one told me there'd be a test!  
  
*^*^*^  
  
The atmosphere in the Blackbird was tense, to say the least. Scott had taken the pilot's seat, pointedly ignoring Ororo's disapproving glance. She ended up taking the copilot's station.  
  
After about half an hour of strained silence, Scott blew out an angry breath and set his controls for autopilot, turning in his chair to face Ororo. She looked over at him, and spun her own chair to face him.  
  
"Look." he shifted uncomfortably. "I know that you're not exactly happy with the Professor's decision, and to be quite honest, neither am I. I've worked with the X-Men for the last four years, and you and Logan and Mr. McCoy have always just been the teachers or supervisors. It's quite a change to have you all actually on the team, instead of coaching us from the sidelines, and I'm sure it's quite a change for you as well. But if what the Professor says is true, about this great evil, or whatever, than we're going to need all the people we can get to fight it. That's why the Professor wants us to find this group in Canada, after all." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say, is that we need to be able to all work together. I have to ensure that, it's my responsibility as leader. And that includes you and I."  
  
She nodded. "I have no problems working with you, Scott." She smiled reassuringly.  
  
Scott clenched his teeth. "I also need everyone on the team to be *honest*. You had to act like everything was always ok when we were little kids, but in case you haven't noticed, we've grown up. If there's anything wrong, I need to know now."  
  
Her eyes clouded over, the irises becoming opaque. "I assure you, Scott, I know that you have grown up. If you hadn't noticed, I am no more than four years older than you. I will be sure to tell you if I have any issues with your leadership skills."  
  
He blinked, and studied her, really looked at her for the first time. It was true. It was true, he realized, she couldn't be more than twenty- five. She had always kept up the goddess façade, hiding any trace of the young woman beneath. She was his teacher, or at least that was the only way he had ever thought of her, but it was only now that he saw the person under the mask.  
  
"Okay." He nodded, turning back to his controls.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^  
  
"Are we there yet?" William hollered over the noise of the car. Chandra and Joseph continued to yell at each other, while Sanina tried to force them to shut up, and Mia and Daniela sang along with the music.  
  
"It's been a long, long time since I looked into the mirror  
  
I guess that I was blind  
  
Now my reflection's getting clearer  
  
Now that you're gone things will never be the same again  
  
There's not a minute that goes by every hour of every day  
  
You're such a part of me  
  
But I just pulled away  
  
Well, I'm not the same girl you used to know  
  
I wish I said the words I never showed  
  
I know you had to go away  
  
I died just a little, and I feel it now  
  
You're the one I need  
  
I believe that I would cry just a little  
  
Just to have you back now  
  
Here with me."  
  
"I swear if you don't stop asking when we'll be there.!" Chandra glared at William threateningly.  
  
"Would everyone please shut up?!" Sanina screamed at the top of her lungs. The car went quite silent.  
  
"Wow." Chandra said finally.  
  
"No kidding." Agreed Daniela. There was silence in the car for the next five minutes. Everyone was just starting to relax, when the car began to make a very suspicious grumbling noise. It began to shake, and swerve. William struggled to control the wheel, but without much affect.  
  
"Um...guys?" Chandra glanced around nervously.  
  
"What's going on William?!!!!" demanded Mia.  
  
"I. can't. control. The. Car." He gritted out between clenched teeth.  
  
"Well....get back control of it!" Daniela clutched the back of Sanina's seat. There was a screech of metal and tires, and the car came to a grinding halt.  
  
"I do *not* want to know what just happened, do I?" asked Mia wearily.  
  
"Uh.probably not," William swallowed nervously.  
  
"Are we out of gas?" asked Mia.  
  
"No, but I think it's a little worse." Joseph groaned.  
  
"Please don't tell me the car broke down," Chandra closed her eyes and began pounding her head into the back of William's seat.  
  
"We were not destined to come on this trip!" exclaimed Mia.  
  
"It is becoming pretty darn hopeless," agreed Joseph dully.  
  
"Now what?" asked Daniela.  
  
"How far are we from a city?" asked Mia.  
  
Sanina frowned down at the map. "Too far to walk."  
  
"Well, I guess we could just wait for someone to come by and pick us up?" Chandra suggested.  
  
"We're on the most deserted piece of highway I've ever seen. Since we passed the boarder, I've seen exactly two other vehicles." William informed the group.  
  
"Well that's just perfect!" Mia was getting quite frustrated.  
  
"I think we should try and find out what's wrong with the car," decided Joseph.  
  
"It's broken, isn't that enough for you?" Chandra glared up at the dark-haired boy in front of her.  
  
"You got a better idea, Goddess?" challenged Joseph.  
  
"Shhhh, people." Mia frowned, "I hear something."  
  
*^*^*^  
  
They had remained silent for the next fifteen minutes, though it was a more comfortable one than the one they had shared on the beginning of the flight. Ororo found that she and Scott worked well together, at least when it came to piloting the jet. If this were to stand true for other situations was still to be seen. The skies were calm, and all and all it was a perfect day for flying. Though she would have preferred to be flying outside of the plane, without any of the physical restraints that bound her while inside, there was still something to be said for simply being aloft, no matter the means. Flying had always been an indulgence for her, a way to let herself go and to be free and alive in the moment. There was something about the power she controlled, the amazing abilities granted to her by the Goddess, (or simple science, as Hank would say), that, if she let it, pulled her onto a high that could not be achieved by any drug. The wondrous torrent of control could sweep her up, draw her in and all around capture her with its almost sensual beauty. In those few and far between moments when she truly let herself go, she was almost sure that she was aware of what it felt to experience bliss. It was her own personal Nirvana, and she treasured every moment she could allow herself to live up to her namesake: Storm.  
  
"Ororo?" Scott's tense voice cut into her quiet musings, and she turned to look at him, startled not only by his voice, but by the fact that he had used her first name. She was so used to only really knowing him as a student, and boy, that it was almost unnatural to hear him call her anything but 'Miss Munroe'.  
  
"What is it, Scott?" she asked.  
  
"Take a look at these readings. We're loosing fuel a lot faster than we should be."  
  
She leaned over his shoulder, peering at the screen in front of him. His observation was correct. The fuel output had almost tripled from what it usually would be at their present velocity. "I'm sure it is simply a sensor malfunction," she assured him, unconsciously slipping back into the teacher/mother roll which she seemed to adopt when around any of the students.  
  
Scott shook his head before the words had fully left her lips. "These sensors *don't* malfunction. If they say we're loosing fuel, then we're loosing fuel. What we need to worry about right now, is how and why."  
  
"Do we have enough to reach the Mutants' location?" she asked worriedly.  
  
Scott glanced down at the tracker which the Professor had programmed to follow the new Mutants. His eyes shifted to the fuel gage, and then back to her. Though his red glasses hid his eyes, it was obvious from the expression on his face what the answer would be. However, she still found herself waiting with baited breath, hoping desperately that her suspicions were wrong. "With what we have now, we'll be lucky if we make a good area for an emergency landing."  
  
"We should contact the Professor," she suggested.  
  
He nodded in agreement. "Definitely. You get him on the communicator, and I'll look for a place to take us down."  
  
She nodded, moving back to her seat, and entering the code to contact Professor Xavier. Strangely, the COM seemed to be dead. She worked furiously, fingers dancing swiftly over the controls, becoming increasingly frantic as the device continued to not cooperate. Finally, with one final splutter, and a shower of sparks, her entire control board went black.  
  
"What the." she jumped back as a spark struck her unprotected hand.  
  
"Shit!" Scott's unexpected, and very uncharacteristic expletive came to her from nearby.  
  
"My entire board is dead," she informed him.  
  
"So's mine!" he snapped, desperately trying to reawaken his controls. Then, a moment later, "Hang on!"  
  
Her eyes widened as the jet began to plummet. Blue eyes clouding over, she tried to pull them up with the power of the wind, but only succeeded in marginally slowing their descent. Grabbing hold of her chair arms, she closed her eyes and hoped for the best.  
  
They struck the ground with a harsh force that through Ororo from her seat, to land her in a tangle of limbs on the floor with Scott. Pulling apart, they just sat on there, staring at each other. Finally Scott spoke. "My...God. We just crashed the jet, didn't we?"  
  
She nodded mutely.  
  
He took a deep breath, and then looked directly into her sky blue eyes, how, with his glasses, she didn't have the foggiest idea. "We're screwed, aren't we?"  
  
She blinked, and then a real smile bloomed across her face. "With out a doubt," she agreed. Scott only nodded.  
  
"Exactly what I thought."  
  
*^*^*^*^  
  
A/N: Yes! It's done! I started writing this last Tuesday during Tech class, and then forgot the disc in my locker until today. I just finished writing it.  
  
Ok, thanks go out to Mist, for supporting me when I was considering quitting this story altogether, to Sky Queen, who, while being my only reviewer, also threatened to kill me if I forgot the disc again, and to Mrs. Lashta, for giving me the idea of car trouble.  
  
And, btw, the song in this chapter belongs to Michelle Branch.  
  
I *love* reviews!!! ...pretty please??? 


	5. Chapter Five

X-Phoenix  
  
A/N: I hate Valentines Day. I really do. What's the point of it?! Oh well, Andromeda's on tonight, and my dad bought me a bunch of cinnamon hearts, so, *shrugs* I decided to write this. Voila.  
  
Disclaimer: I have two words for you. Meep. Meep.  
  
*^*^*^*^  
  
Chapter Five  
  
"I don't hear anything," Chandra said after a moment of listening.  
  
"Me neither," agreed William. "You're probably just imagining things, Mi."  
  
Mia glared icily at William. "It sounded like a plane, or a jet."  
  
"I heard it, too." Sanina rolled down the window.  
  
The sound was faint, but they could all hear it now. "It sounds like it's getting pretty close to the ground," observed Joseph.  
  
"Wonder what it's up to." Daniela reached over to unroll the other window.  
  
"Let's see if we can flag it down! We can get a ride out of here!" Chandra was already undoing her seatbelt and pulling on her jacket. The rest of the group hurriedly scrambled out of the car onto the snow-covered ground.  
  
"Could it possibly get *any* colder?" William shivered.  
  
"It's not cold!" Chandra left her jacket unzipped, leaving only the thin cotton of her tee shirt between the chilly air and her white skin.  
  
"C'mon! We've gotta hurry if we're going to catch it!" Mia took off at a run across the snowy landscape, the others close behind. They hadn't gotten far, however, when there was a powerful crash, the sound reverberating like thunder across the emptiness.  
  
"What the hell?!" Mia halted, eyes darting around, attempting to find the point from which the blast had originated.  
  
"I don't hear the jet anymore," commented Joseph.  
  
"I can't bloody hear *anything* after that thing. What was it?" Chandra demanded.  
  
"What if it crashed?!" Sanina exclaimed. "There's probably people hurt! Come on!"  
  
"We have a first-aid kit in the car?" Daniela asked.  
  
"Uh... I think so." Joseph shrugged.  
  
"Let's go find out, shall we?" Chandra lead the way back to the car.  
  
Back at the car, the teens began pulling everything they could get their hands on out. Joseph listed each item as it was tossed out onto the snow. "Blanket: useful. Discman: not. Candy wrapper: not. Flashlight: useful. Laptop: Channy? You might wanna rescue that! Headphones: not. Pop: not. Water: useful. Notebook: not. CD case: not. Blanket: useful, again. Shoe: uh, no. Paper bag: not. Straws: not. Deformed piece of plastic and wiring: I doubt it. Book: not. Tic-Tacs: nope. Uh...Jumbo box of paperclips: do I *want* to know what those were for? Ha! There! I see the first=-aid kit!"  
  
"Excellent! Let's go!" And with that, the group set off once again towards the location of the jet.  
  
*^*^*^*^  
  
"I don't believe this!" Scott's frustrated voice came floating to Storm from the hatch of the jet.  
  
"What is it?" she called back, not looking up from the fried computers, which she was trying to fix.  
  
"We're locked in! The door's been melted shut! Whatever did this to us really wanted us dead." He came back up to the front to sit beside her.  
  
"We do not know for sure that someone did this to us intentionally, Scott. It could have just as easily been a simple malfunction." Though Ororo didn't believe her own words for a moment, she nevertheless attempted to reassure Scott.  
  
He glanced over at her in annoyance. "I already told you, the jet *doesn't* malfunction. And besides, think about it for a second. We're both members of a Mutant team out to basically save the world, stress the word Mutant, riding around in a state-of-the-art jet with backup quite a ways off. What are the chances that it was just a random malfunction?"  
  
She blinked. "Not that good."  
  
"Exactly. Now, do you think that with your lightning and my eye beams we can blast a whole in the side of the jet so we can get out?"  
  
"We can always try," she rose to her feet, giving the computer one last disgusted look.  
  
"I doubt Professor Xavier'll be happy we blew a hole in his jet, but it's been through worse," Scott lead the way to the back hatch. The metal was warped and twisted, melded together so much, that one had to struggle to even tell that there had once been a door there. Ororo reflected that if the rest of the jet was as bad as this, they would hardly have to worry about blasting a hole in the side.  
  
"I think we'll have a better chance of getting out this way," observed Scott. "If there's any of the hatch left, it might be easier to blast loose."  
  
Ororo nodded her agreement, and the two Mutants prepared to blast the hatch. However, before they could let loose, there was the sound of voices approaching the jet. They couldn't make out what the apparent teens were saying, but they sounded panicked.  
  
"Damn it!" Scott glared at the hatch. "I was hoping no one noticed us go down!"  
  
"This might be rather difficult to explain," Ororo frowned in thought. The two of them stood in silence, sharing the same hope that the people outside the jet would just go away. However luck, it seemed, was not on their side, for a moment later, there was a pounding on the hatch.  
  
"Hey! Anyone in there?!" a girl's voice came to them.  
  
They held their breath, standing perfectly still. There was a moment of hushed whispering outside, then, to Scott and Ororo's shock and horror, something large and heavy slammed into the hatch. The action was repeated until, finally, the metal began to bend inwards. Finally, with a screech of twisting metal, and a shower of sparks, the hatch burst open. When the debris had settled, the two in the jet looked out to see a tall being, made entirely of some kind of rock-like substance. He stepped back, and slowly morphed into a blond haired boy of about sixteen.  
  
"Good job, Amethyst," a brown-haired girl told him. She turned to them and her eyebrows shot up. "Are you two ok? We thought, when nobody answered, that you were hurt."  
  
"We're both fine, but...who are you?" Ororo asked curiously, her eyes darting to the blond boy, who grinned at her.  
  
"My name's Mia," the girl introduced herself, "This is William," (the blond boy) "Chandra," (a black-haired, gray-eyed girl) "Sanina," (a redhead) "Joseph," (a tall, dark boy) "and Daniela." (An elf-like girl with blondy-brown hair). "And you would be?..."  
  
"My name is Scott Summers, and this is Ororo Munroe. Now, I don't quite know how to put this without being terribly blunt, so I won't try. Are you all Mutants?" Scott stared directly at Mia.  
  
She glanced at her friends, then back at Scott and Ororo, her gaze calculating. Finally, she nodded. "Sure, we're Mutants of a sort. Are you?"  
  
Scott nodded. "Yeah, we are. Can I ask what your powers are?"  
  
"That depends," Mia smirked. "Can we ask *you*?"  
  
Ororo nodded, anxious to put the group at ease. "I control the weather," a gust of wind lifted her a few cms off the floor of the jet.  
  
"Sweet!" William's exclamation was filled with delight.  
  
"And I shoot beams out of my eyes." Scott aimed carefully, and twisted a knob on his visor. A red bolt of energy shot out, striking a nearby tree.  
  
"Hmmm," Sanina watched in fascination. "That would explain the visor, at least."  
  
"Now, to answer your question about our powers," Mia lifted a hand, and a jet of water doused the smoldering remains of the tree.  
  
"Interesting," commented Ororo. "Do you pull water molecules directly from the air?"  
  
Mia shrugged. "Not exactly, but..."  
  
"Hey! Fearless Leader! Somebody's coming!" Chandra cut in. Immediately, the whole group went still, and very quiet. A large truck thundered towards them across the snow, approaching rapidly.  
  
"Looks like we weren't the only ones to notice you go down," observed Daniela.  
  
"Apparently not," agreed Scott. "Now we're just going to hope they're Mutant friendly."  
  
"What are the chances of that happening?" Chandra rolled her eyes. Joseph glared at her.  
  
The truck crunched to a stop, and a man in a heavy jacket and cap hopped out.  
  
"Hey! You folks ok?" he called, crunching over to them through the snow.  
  
"We're fine, thanks!" Scott yelled back. The man arrived and frowned at them.  
  
Turning to Ororo, he asked, "What're you and all these kids doin' out here with this banged up chopper?"  
  
"Jet," Chandra muttered under her breath.  
  
"We are on a school camping trip," Ororo informed him, hoping desperately that he'd buy the blatant lie. He didn't.  
  
"Seems kinda cold out for a campin' trip, don't it? And what're yall doin' with this new-fangled chopper?"  
  
"It's our transportation," Scott continued with the lie. "I'm a student-teacher. It's a private school, lots of money to buy stuff like this."  
  
"Reallllyyy..." the man did *not* look impressed. "Well, I'd be guessin' you're missin' one of your student-teacher people then. Found him up a ways back on the road with a broken down car. You folks don't have the best a luck with yer stuff, do ya?"  
  
"Um..." Scott looked at Ororo. Ororo returned the gaze helplessly.  
  
Meanwhile the man turned back to his truck and yelled in through the open window. "Hey kid! I found some a yer friends!"  
  
The door opened, and a tall, auburn-haired man leapt gracefully down. He wore a beat-up trench coat, and moved with the grace of a cat.  
  
"You say you find my friends, Monsieur Brown?"  
  
"That's right, Mr. Laba."  
  
"I don't think these be da people I was lookin' for, but tanks for da ride, anyway. And it's Lebeau, by da way."  
  
"Well, I guess I'd better be goin'," Mr. Brown said cheerfully. "Hope you kids enjoy the rest a yer campin' trip!" And with that, the old man jumped into his truck and motored off.  
  
"Well, that was interesting," commented Daniela dryly.  
  
"To say the least," agreed Scott. He glanced over at Ororo, but found her eyes fixed on the young man whom Brown had dropped off.  
  
"Rem?" she gasped out finally.  
  
His head shot up, and Scott guessed that his eyes behind the sunglasses had fixed on the windrider. "Stormy?"  
  
*^*^*^  
  
A/N: There! Have fun with that! Mwhahahahah! Cliffhangers are sooo fun! Now, if I get reviews, I'll write the next chapter soon!  
  
Review Responses:  
  
Fred: Wow! Thanks! I just might do the Scott/Ororo thing, because that seems to be where this is going. We'll see.  
  
S.Q: Mwhahahaha! It's soo fun to torture you, though! And get working on 'Life Among The Stars'! I command you! 


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter 6  
  
A/N: Thanks go out to Sky Queen, who wrote a little of this chapter when I was stuck.  
  
Disclaimer: (8)This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack on my thumb...(8)  
  
*^*^*^*^  
  
Scott cleared his throat pointedly. "Storm? Who is this guy?"  
  
"He's...an old friend," she murmured softly, eyes still fixed on the man  
before her.  
  
"What're you doin' out here?" Remy asked Ororo curiously.  
  
"It's a very, very long story, my friend. I will tell you  
later. And I could ask the same of you..."  
  
"Dat's another long story, chere. Though, I'm  
startin' to wish I wasn't here. It's freezinn'!"  
  
"Actually, it's a good thing you're here,"  
commented Storm smiling wryly at the Cajun,  
"because we're not going anywhere."  
  
"What seems to be da problem, Stormy?" Remy asked curiously. No sooner had the words left his mouth than he caught site of the jet. "Merde........." He muttered. "I think I know one pissed off professor."  
  
The phoenix force had been standing quietly through all of this, but Mia suddenly piped up. "Well, we have a car back there," she gestured with her hand, "but it kind of... doesn't work right now."  
  
"No problem, I'm sure we can fix it and get ourselves outta here," replied Gambit smugly "who be you guys anyway?"  
  
"My name's Mia, these are Chandra, Daniela, Joseph, Sanina and William."  
  
Chandra smirked. "...And, to paraphrase Mr. Freakish Glasses, over there, exactly who the hell are you?"  
  
He gave her his best charming smile. "I am Remy Lebeau, also known as Gambit. Pleasure t' meet you."  
  
Ororo rolled her eyes. Scott's gaze flicked between the Windrider, the Cajun and the telepath. Finally he sighed. "Well, let's go see if we can get your car working, and then we'll head back to the Institute."  
  
"Institute?" Chandra's eyes sparkled as she turned to Mia. "See? They've finally decided we've snapped, and are here to take us to our nice friends in the white jackets."  
  
Mia punched her in the shoulder. "Probably Xavier's, you unsmart little person."  
  
Chandra shrugged. "I rest my case."  
  
Ororo leapt gracefully to the snowy ground, and looked expectantly at Mia. "Your car...?"  
  
"This way," Mia told her, starting off the way they had came. The others followed, Ororo walking with Remy, Chandra and Mia walking together, Joseph and William running off in a race towards the car, and Sanina and Daniela taking up the rear. Scott gave one last look at the poor jet, and sighed regretfully. As Storm's friend had said, the Professor would not be happy with this. Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. 'How'd that guy know who the Professor is?' He took off to catch up with Remy and Ororo.  
  
"Hey! You two, wait up!" The two slowed, allowing him to fall into pace with them.  
  
"What is it, Scott?" asked Ororo. Scott ignored her, glaring directly at Gambit.  
  
"I'd like to know exactly how you knew who the Professor is," he stated coldly.  
  
The man shrugged casually. "I've got my sources, mon ami."  
  
Scott clenched his teeth. "And those sources would be...?"  
  
An infuriating smirk slipped across the man's handsome features. "Even if I were t' tell you, you'd never 'ave heard o' dem anyway, so dere's no point."  
  
Scott glanced at Ororo, and was increasingly chagrinned to see that she was desperately trying to restrain a grin of her own. He gave them both a particularly aggravated glare, and headed up to the front of the line to speak with Chandra and Mia, all the time muttering things like, "All out to get me... Want me to go insane... Damn Cajun... Thought teacher's were always supposed to stick up for their students..."  
  
*^*^*^  
  
"So, what's wrong with the bloody car?!" Chandra called from the front seat where she was bent over her laptop with Ororo and Joseph.  
  
Remy, Scott and William had their heads all under the hood, a toolbox lying out on the ground near their feet.  
  
"Nothin' too bad, chere!" Remy's voice came to her.  
  
"So you guys can fix it?" asked Joseph.  
  
"No problem, man!" William stuck his head out of the car long enough to send a thumbs-up in the general direction of the front seat.  
  
"How long?" asked Mia.  
  
"'Bout fifteen minutes," Remy replied.  
  
"Great!" Sanina shivered, wrapping her jacket closer around herself.  
  
Back in the front seat, Chandra scrolled down the information displayed on the computer screen. Ororo's eyes were fastened to the words as they moved by.  
  
"There's so much information out on the school! How did you get all this?"  
  
Chandra glanced at Joseph, who shrugged helplessly. "I'm...really good with computers," Chandra brushed the question off hurriedly.  
  
"You're a hacker, aren't you?" asked Ororo, frowning.  
  
"No!" Chandra shook her head. "I'm just really good at procuring information on the Internet and in other people's computers that I might not really supposed to have."  
  
"In other words, yeah, she's a hacker," Joseph affirmed.  
  
"I see," Ororo said disapprovingly.  
  
"Hey!" Daniela called from the back seat, "I got my Discman fit with new batteries! We've got musique!"  
  
"Thank God!" Mia grinned.  
  
"Okie, now what do you guys wanna hear?" asked Daniela.  
  
"You should get to choose, it's your player," Scott spoke for the first time since opening the hood of the car.  
  
"Sure, sounds good," Daniela flipped through her C.Ds. Finally spotting a disc to her liking, she dropped it into the slot and hit the play button. Music poured forth, providing a background to the work of the group.  
  
"Charades, pop skill  
  
Water hyacinth  
  
Named by a poet  
  
Imitation of life  
  
Like a koi in a frozen pond  
  
Like a goldfish in a bowl  
  
I don't want to hear you cry  
  
That sugarcane that tasted good  
  
That's cinnamon, that's Hollywood  
  
Come on, come on  
  
No one can see you try  
  
You want the greatest thing  
  
The greatest thing since bread came sliced  
  
You've got it all  
  
You've got it sussed  
  
Like a Friday fashion show  
  
Teenager freezing in the corner  
  
Trying to look like you don't try  
  
That sugarcane that tasted good  
  
That's cinnamon, that's Hollywood  
  
Come on, come on  
  
No one can see you try."  
  
*^*^*^  
  
Jubilation Lee dodged the large robotic arm coming at her head, and rolled to the side as a laser beam shot from a port on the wall. Bobby Drake sent a bolt of ice at it, and she let loose with a burst of fireworks to destroy it. Somewhere behind her, she could hear Jean and Logan arguing about something, but she didn't have to time to wonder what, as three claw- like things descended from the ceiling. The was a *BAMPH* from behind her, and she felt Kurt's tale wrap around her wrist before they were off in another teleport.  
  
"Thanks, Elf," she said when they reappeared.  
  
"No problem!" he called back, already off to help Sam. Safe for the moment, she looked out over the danger room, trying to find each of her teammates. This task proved easier than she had expected, for just then the Professor deactivated the projection, and the images flickered and vanished. Unfortunately, she had been standing on a high turret, and when it was no longer there, she plunged straight to the hard metal floor.  
  
"Shit! That hurt!" she cried out, struggling to get up. Logan walked over, offering her a hand up.  
  
"You ok, kid?" he asked gruffly.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, Wolvy. It just kinda hurts to fall from fifteen feet in the air, ya know?" she rubbed her arm, knowing she was going to have a really big bruise there within the hour.  
  
"When are we, like, going to be able to like eat or take a rest?" asked Kitty, walking over to Logan, Rogue right beside her.  
  
"Whenever Chuck decides we've had enough, I guess." The older man turned away, apparently not particularly caring that they had spent the last three hours in training.  
  
"Ah'm exhausted," admitted Rogue.  
  
"Yeah, I'm totally wiped!" Kitty plopped down on the floor.  
  
"The Professor better have a good reason for all this crap," Jubilee joined Kitty on the ground, soon followed by Rogue. The Goth girl rested her head in her hands, and Jubilee remembered overhearing Kitty telling Kurt that Rogue hadn't been sleeping well lately.  
  
"Hey, you feelin' ok, Rogue?" asked the Chinese girl.  
  
Yeah, Jubes, ah'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all."  
  
"Not sleeping well?" asked Kitty, though Jubilee knew that she already knew the answer.  
  
"No, not really, but it's nothing, Kit. Really. Ah promise if it gets real bad ah'll go see the Professor, k?" Rogue asked.  
  
"Yeah, like, ok. I'm just worried about you," Kitty smiled at her friend. Jubilee made gagging noises.  
  
"Please, if this gets anymore sweet and mushy I may just throw up!"  
  
"Believe meh, sugah, if ah wanted ta make ya throw up, ah'd come up with a much more interesting and creative way of doin' it," commented Rogue. Kitty laughed, Jubilee glared.  
  
*^*^*^  
  
A/N: Short, I know, but I'm kind of experiencing writers' block right now. Oh, btw, the song belongs to R.E.M. 


	7. Chapter Seven

X-Phoenix  
  
Disclaimer: How much wood can a woodchuck chuck...  
  
A/N: Yes! I finally got this chapter done and up! I don't have tech anymore, (moved on to frelling cooking classes), but I'll still try to get out at least a chapter a week. Right now, however, I have exams, and then I'm going to BC, and then I'm getting my guidedog... *sigh* stressful, non?  
  
*^*^*^*^  
  
"Ouch...get off my hair!"  
  
"I'm squished..."  
  
"Holey...where'd my foot go?"  
  
"Gimme!"  
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
"Ouch!"  
  
"Shut up, for the love of the Goddess!"  
  
"Five hundred sixty-three..."  
  
"Wow! Lookie at that!"  
  
"You know, I would, but someone's fricken leg is in my way!"  
  
"Whose empty Tic-Tac box?!"  
  
"Mine!"  
  
"Why are we here, again?"  
  
"You're the leader."  
  
"*Co*leader!"  
  
"Um...ouch?"  
  
"Oh my God, I woke up with a snake tattoo! Oh my God, and I think that my tongue's pierced too!"  
  
"Ewww! That's a disgusting song!"  
  
"You don't get out enough!"  
  
"If ya don' all shut up, I'm goin' t' crash da car!"  
  
"OOO! Multiple suicides? Sounds like fun!"  
  
"Shut up..."  
  
The car-ride had not been going well. Remy was driving, with Ororo in the passenger side. Scott crouched between the seats in the front, and Sanina, Chandra and Joseph sat in the backseat along with Mia. William and Daniela were crammed on the floor in the back seat. They had gotten the car in working order about two hours previously, and were now on their way back to Xavier's.  
  
"How long's this gonna take?" asked Daniela.  
  
"A very long time..." Ororo closed her eyes.  
  
"I'm gonna need *lots* of caffeine before this is over," muttered Chandra. Daniela nodded in agreement.  
  
"We really need to find a town soon," commented Mia.  
  
"There's a town up ahead, about twenty km," stated Scott, pulling out the map to make sure.  
  
"Thank God!" Joseph released a frustrated breath. "I swear, if this car were to get any more packed, we'd be pulled over!"  
  
"Actually, we'd probably be pulled over by now, except there's no police to do it around," replied Chandra dully.  
  
"Hey! Why so gloomy?!" William grinned up at Chandra. "We're on the road trip from hell! You should be happy and cheerful!" Chandra kicked him....hard.  
  
"I really need to get out of this car!" Sanina clenched her fists.  
  
"You have *no* room to talk!" Daniela snapped. "You're not quashed down on the floor!"  
  
"My head hurts..." Chandra groaned.  
  
"We're almost to the town," Ororo assured her.  
  
"When we get back in, I'm driving," stated Mia firmly.  
  
"Non, chere, I tink I'll be doin' all da drivin' for now," said Remy from the front seat.  
  
"Actually," began Ororo. "I was thinking of driving..."  
  
"Wow! Me too!" Chandra snapped frustratedly.  
  
"It's my car!" Mia finally exploded. "I'm going to be driving it, and there's nothing you can say to change that! Got it?!"  
  
There was dead silence in the car. "Wow," Scott finally got out.  
  
"She always does that," Chandra explained. "Sometimes, I think its part of her powers, too."  
  
"Unfortunately, Joseph can never make us shut up," grinned Daniela.  
  
"I hate you all!" Joseph pounded his head into the back of the seat, making a low moaning sound in his throat.  
  
"Speaking of powers," commented Scott, "You never *did* tell us what your powers are. I mean, aside from Mia. Do you have codenames?"  
  
"You know," Chandra cut in, "Normal people don't ask other normal people weather or not they have codenames."  
  
"I rest my case," retorted Scott.  
  
"Anyway, you know my power," said Mia. "My codename is Mist."  
  
"I'm a telecoersic," Chandra informed them. "Codename's Thought."  
  
"What is a telecoersic?" asked Ororo.  
  
"It means I can control people's minds, and erase memories, and make them do stuff or think stuff they usually wouldn't."  
  
"So in other words, you're a telepath," Scott paraphrased.  
  
"Noooooo...telepaths just read your mind, and can dig into your darkest secrets. I can read surface thoughts, but nothing deep. Telepaths can't actually *control* the mind, though."  
  
"Yes...they can," Scott contradicted.  
  
"Um, no they can't," Chandra sighed impatiently.  
  
"Whatever you say," sighed Scott.  
  
"Anyway," Sanina continued. "I can heal any physical injury by sending a healing agent into the injured person through a touch. If I touch their skin, I can tell how they're injured, and everything about the injury, too. My codename is, very originally, Healer."  
  
"Now that could come in handy in a fight," Scott obviously approved.  
  
"I turn into a black raven," Daniela stated proudly. "My codename's Sky Queen."  
  
"I can reflect any kind of energy," Joseph told the X-Men. "My codename's about as original as Nina's: Reflector."  
  
Chandra smothered a snort of laughter.  
  
"And I can turn my skin into solid Amethyst," William finished. "So I'm basically invulnerable...unless someone cracks or melts it. And getting right back to the creativeness of our codenames, guess what mine is."  
  
"Really big rock?" Remy suggested, smirking. Chandra, Daniela and Ororo all made desperate attempts to cover their amusement.  
  
"Amethyst," muttered William. He reached up, and with some twisting of his body, managed to slug Remy in the shoulder.  
  
"So, Sanina, Chandra, your powers are wonderful, but how do you defend yourselves against physical attacks?" asked Ororo.  
  
"I have a lot of marshal arts training," Sanina told her.  
  
"I'm really agile, and I have two daggers I normally keep in wrist sheaths during any kind of fight," Chandra explained. "But I normally just knock them unconscious."  
  
"Mmmm..." Scott yawned.  
  
The car was silent for about five minutes when Remy reached over to the radio and flipped it on. He quickly turned it to a station that he was obviously familiar with.  
  
"And now, back to nature sounds!" the voice said from inside the car.  
  
Ororo looked at Remy with a disgusted look plastered on her face as the sound of a waterfall began filling the car.  
  
"Do I *want* to know why you listen to the Nature Channel?" asked Mia weakly.  
  
"Uh...jus' da firs' station I flipped to, dat's all!" Remy defended himself hurriedly.  
  
"I thought you would like nature sounds, Ororo?" asked William.  
  
Ororo sighed. "All right...1, I do not listen to the nature station, and 2, I do *not* watch the Whether Network!!" Ororo pounded her head into the back of her seat.  
  
"We should listen to the news to see if there's any important current events we should be aware of," Scott suggested.  
  
"No, no we shouldn't!" Chandra exclaimed.  
  
On the radio, the announcer said, "And now, we will hear the very relaxing sounds of the Brown Howler Monkey!"  
  
"Oh God, please change it before I scream!" Mia squeaked.  
  
"I don't really need to hear what the Brown Howler Monkey sounds---"  
  
Ssssssscreeeeeeech, eeeee, eeeeeeeee, eeeeeeeeech!!!!  
  
"---like," Joseph sighed.  
  
"Oh, oh, THAT'S relaxing!!!" Scott exclaimed, punching the back of Remy's seat.  
  
"Are we there yet?!" Daniela asked pitifully from her position on the floor.  
  
"Only five minutes," Scott told her. Ororo reached for the dashboard radio controls, and flipped randomly through the stations.  
  
*click* "...If elephants could fly I'd be a little more optimistic..." *click* "...And that's not all! After all that, the handy-dandy spatula is great for..." *click* "...Oh, I don't know what to do! My daughter hates me, my husband thinks I'm having an affair with my mother's therapist..." *click* "...And now, for our exclusive interview with the Spice Girls!..." *click* "...OOO, Papa, J'aime le fromage! Oui, oui!..." *click* "...Sleep Country Canada, why buy a mattress anywhere else?..." *click* "...I'm here, live on location at the shoe factory..." *click* "...I've become so numb..." *click*  
  
"Hey! I like..."  
  
*click* "And now for a live breaking news bulletin! Apparently there has been a prison breakout in Rome. Some of the most dangerous criminals in the world are on the loose. The breakout was believed to be orchestrated by Mutants..."  
  
Everyone frowned at this revelation. "This isn't good," Scott commented darkly.  
  
"No, not good at all," agreed Mia.  
  
"Hey! We're there!" Chandra exclaimed in excitement.  
  
"C'mon, let's go find food! I'm starving!" William hardly waited for the car to pull to a stop, before leaping out of the door.  
  
"I'm with him on that," agreed Sanina, following him out. Soon, the entire car was empty. Unfortunately, the group hadn't gone fifteen feet, when there was a large explosion, and everyone was thrown to the ground. Chandra's last thought before everything went black, was, 'Oh look. The sparkly Toyota pixies have come to screw over my life again. Surprise, surprise.'  
  
*^*^*^  
  
A/N: There! Done! I really have to thank Mist for her help in writing bits of this chapter, I couldn't have finished it without her! *Hugs* Anyway, the songs don't belong to me, but I'm too lazy to go look up every little song and who it's by. Oh, and the Brown Howler Monkey really does exist, by the way. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight  
  
Disclaimer: Sleep, per chance to dream...  
  
A/N: I'd just like to say that I had much help from Mist and Healer! ...And happy BDay, Nina!!!!!! These chapters are for you!  
  
*^*^*^  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
Mia stared down at the unconscious form of Chandra on the ground beside her.  
  
"Chandra? Hey, Channy!!" Seeing no response, she turned and yelled, "Hey! Sanina, get over here quick! Something's wrong with Chandra!"  
  
Sanina rushed over. "She's not responding?"  
  
Mia poked her. She didn't move. "No..."  
  
"Ok, I'll try to find out what's wrong with her." Sanina lent down, resting a hand on Chandra's face. She winced, and jumped back, taking in a sharp breath.  
  
"What is it?" asked Mia worriedly.  
  
"I can feel some sort of emanations coming from her mind...and they're, well, bad!" Sanina shivered. "I don't think I can do anything."  
  
Just then Scott came rushing over, looking annoyed. "What's wrong now? I mean, it's not bad enough that we've got to deal with earthquakes...grrr! I think my arm is broken... fix it?"  
  
Joseph, who had just come up as well, glared at Scott. "Can't you see that Chandra has much larger problems than you do?!"  
  
"What problems?!"  
  
"Oh, I don't know, I'd say lying unconscious on the pavement as a problem, wouldn't you?" Joseph glared.  
  
"Well... that's happened to me a couple times, it's normally not that bad. But my arm bloody hurts!!!!!"  
  
"Both of you stop it!" Ororo commanded as she, Remy and Daniela made their way over, Daniela limping slightly. Scott and Joseph looked appropriately apologetic. "Now," said Ororo to Mia, "What is going on?"  
  
Mia rolled her eyes, and pointed to Chandra. "Take a wild guess," she said dryly.  
  
Ororo frowned. "What is wrong with her?"  
  
"She has the furry Harper disease," explained Sanina seriously.  
  
"Oh... that's pretty bad," Scott said, trying to look worried.  
  
Sanina looked at him. Behind her, Mia, Joseph and Daniela were cracking up. Scott blinked, and looked at Ororo helplessly. She tried in vain to cover her laughter.  
  
"It's ok, Scott, you'll understand when you're older," Daniela said sweetly.  
  
At this, the entire group, excepting Scott, burst into laughter. Scott merely glared. "Ok, well, if there's nothing we can do, then maybe we should take her to a hospital. Daniela, help me get her into the car. The rest of you, go get whatever we need from that store, and meet us back at the car in ten minutes."  
  
"She could be dy8ing!" objected Sanina.  
  
"GO!" Scott yelled. Everyone scattered, and Scott heard Mia mutteing to Sanina under her breath.  
  
"Hehe, that was good, Nina. But, I *like* Harper! He's soo cute!"  
  
Daniela blinked. "Wow... you're almost as good as Mia is at that." They each carefully lifted Chandra, carrying her back to the car together.  
  
Half a minute after they got her to the car, Sanina came back out, glaring at Scott. She marched up to him, hands on hips. "You don't need to take her to the hospital. If it was a hospital matter, it would take me a millisecond to diagnose, and two seconds to cure!"  
  
Scott looked scared. "Um... ok, then. No hospital..."  
  
Sanina looked satisfied.  
  
The rest of the group came out of the store a few minutes later, loaded down with bags of food and drink. "So, off to the hospital?" asked William.  
  
"No, Sanina says we don't need to," Scott said, giving Sanina a dirty look. She glared right back, and then went back to healing his arm.  
  
"So, if you felt bad vibes off of her," Mia said to Sanina, "Then maybe we should find another telepath?"  
  
"And where the hell do'you intend to find one of those?" demanded Daniela, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Actually," Ororo cut in, "Professor Xavier, the headmaster of the school, is a very powerful telepath. He might be able to find out what is wrong with your friend."  
  
"Yes, yes. Perfect, call him and maybe we can meet half way or something?" Mia instructed, shooing Ororo and Remy off towards a payphone.  
  
"I hope she's ok," said Daniela quietly.  
  
"Me too, Danny," Mia murmured, "Me too."  
  
Ororo walked across the parking lot, very aware of the feel of Remy's hand resting casually at the small of her back. She hadn't seen her best friend in years, and thought him dead. But now he was here, and she couldn't think of anything to say. She couldn't tell him that she had cried herself to sleep many nights thinking of him, or that she had sworn to herself that if she ever saw him alive again, she would tell him of her true feelings. Now that he was here, walking right beside her, she was terrified to say anything that might cause him to leave again.  
  
"Never tought I'd be seein' you again, chere," Remy commented, smiling warmly at her.  
  
"I thought you were dead," she admitted. "I thought that Sinister had captured you and..." a shiver ran through her body.  
  
He pulled her closer to him, pausing beside the phone booth to hug her tightly. "I'd never leave you, Stormy," he whispered into her hair. She wrapped her arms about him, holding him as close as she could get.  
  
"I love you, Remy," she told him softly.  
  
"Love you too, chere," he smiled back. Ororo felt a stab of self- loathing shoot through her soul. How could she want to ruin such a deep, loving friendship such as the one she shared with Remy, for something romantic? She was blessed to have this man's trust and love, both things which he did not give easily or often, and she hated herself for having any other kinds of thoughts about him.  
  
"We should call," she sighed, pulling out of his embrace. He nodded, and together they walked to the phone.  
  
*^*^*^  
  
Back at the mansion, chaos ruled. Jean and the Professor were both lying in the med lab, Hank desperately trying to find out what was wrong with them. Logan was trying to keep the kids under control, but it was proving to be a hopeless task. Rogue and Kitty rushed up to him, both looking out of breath.  
  
"Logan! Dr. McCoy says there's somethin' attackin' their minds!" Rogue told him.  
  
"And he, like, doesn't know what it, like, is!" Kitty added.  
  
Logan winced. "Wonderful," he muttered, and headed off to the lab to speak with Hank.  
  
The phone rang. The entire room went silent, and Kurt was the first to react.  
  
"Hello, Xavier's Institute For Ze Gifted. How may I help you? ... Miss Munroe! ... Yes ... He and Jean are, not vell, I'm afraid. ... Really? ... I don't know. ... Um...Miss Munroe? ... Oh, I see. ... Of course. ... I don't think Herr Logan would be willing to. ... Of course! ... Oh, I... ... Mein Gott! ... Thanks, Miss Munroe. ... Bye," and he hung up.  
  
"Like, what was that, Kurt?" asked Kitty excitedly.  
  
He turned to the group who were excitedly awaiting his answer.  
  
"Miss Munroe and Scott are in a small town near ze boarder. They are in trouble, and need ze Professor's help, but considering zat he is unconscious, ve are supposed to take ze other jet to pick zem up."  
  
"Like, what happened?" asked Kitty.  
  
"Zey found ze group from Canada, and I think Miss Munroe has found an old friend, too. One of ze girls from Canada is in ze same condition as ze Professor and Jean. And I think Miss Munroe said somezing about crashing ze jet..."  
  
Jubilee tried to cover a snort of laughter. "My Gawd, she and Scott actually *crashed* the jet? Talk about bribe material!"  
  
"So, who's going to pick them up?" asked Jamie.  
  
"Mr. McCoy won't want to, like, leave the Professor," said Kitty. "I guess Mr. Logan'll have to go."  
  
"Ah don't think he'll be thrilled about leavin', sugah," Rogue commented dryly. "It'd probably be easier if a couple ah us just went."  
  
Kitty frowned, but didn't protest. "I will go," Kurt volunteered.  
  
"Got nothin' better to do here," Jubilee shrugged. "Mind if I come with, Elf?"  
  
Kurt shook his head. "Ok, Kurt and Jubilee can, like, go find the others," Kitty said briskly. "Ray, Jamie, go order pizza. I, like, think that considering how much is going on right now, it'd, like, be a good idea to see if Forge and Warren want to, like, come up and help out.  
Amara and Roberto can call them, and Rogue and I will, like, go over the readings the Professor got from Cerebro before he passed out to see if we can find out what caused it."  
  
"Kit, don't ya think Mr. McCoy and Logan are already doin' that?" Rogue asked skeptically.  
  
Kitty sighed. "Rogue, they're, like, trying to cure him and Jean! We're gonna look for signs of that big evil he was, like, talking about!"  
Everyone stared at Kitty, nobody moving. Kitty glared. "K, like, go!" she exclaimed, and the group scattered.  
  
"Hey," Rogue said suddenly, "Where's Rahne?"  
  
Kitty sighed sadly. "She's really, like, worried about the Professor and Jean. The last place I saw her, she was in her room. But I think Bobby's with her now, so I think she'll be ok."  
  
Rogue nodded. "Ah hope so..."  
  
*^*^*^  
  
A/N: Click the button! Another chapter awaits! Two in one night...go meee! 


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine  
  
Disclaimer: foiahta9pw  
  
A/n: Happy birthday, Healer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : -D  
  
A/N2: I have no idea if there're any White Spots in the US, so... um, yeah. If there's not, just pretend!!!!!!!!  
  
*^*^*^  
  
Ororo sat on the bed in the hotel room she was sharing with Scott. They had decided, that, considering the jet would have to scan for their Mutant signatures to find them, it would make it easier on the searchers if they stayed in one place. The sleeping arrangements were not exactly appropriate, she knew, but she was too tired to care. The hotel had had three two-bed rooms, and one one-bed room. This, needless to say, produced some problems. At first, it was thought that William and Remy, who had become friends, would share a two-bed room, as would Scott and Joseph. That left all five women to cram into enough room meant for three. Scott and Joseph started fighting before the sleeping arrangements for the women could be made, and Mia promptly dragged Joseph off into a two-bed room, slamming the door. Daniela and Sanina had immediately pounced on the larger room, carrying Chandra's inert form with them, setting up a bed of blankets on the floor for one of them, both of them laughing manically. Ororo had wondered how they could be so cheerful when their friend was in danger, but then she realized that there were many ways of suppressing fear, and large amounts of sugar and caffeine seemed to be these people's. That had left Scott and Ororo standing uncomfortably in front of the one- person room, staring at each other. Finally, Scott sighed, and headed off to get blankets from the desk assistant to make a bed on the floor of the room.  
  
The hotel was clean, she gave it that, but forcing her into such a comparable position with Scott...it just wasn't fair! She glared at the small TV set in the corner, and tapped on the screen. The standard welcome message began to play, and she pulled up the menu. The message that flashed across her screen dragged her opinion of the hotel down. *We are sorry to report that our cable has been down because of unexplained interference. We hope to have it up and running as soon as possible. Thank you, and we apologize for the inconvenience.  
  
She clicked the device off, and curled into a ball on the queen-sized bed. She felt herself drifting off to sleep, and welcomed the rest. The loud slamming of the door, and a low, constant muttered string of curses jerked her back to full consciousness a few minutes later. Scott stood in the doorway, hands clenched at his sides.  
  
"What is it, Scott?" she asked, sitting up.  
  
He began pacing, jaw hard. "Damn....idiotic...stupid...worthless...merde...unbelievable..."  
  
She arched an eyebrow, but remained silent, sort of finding his anger amusing. Finally he spun to face her and demanded, "How the *hell* does a hotel not have blankets?!"  
  
She couldn't hold her laughter in any longer, and her shoulders shook with mirth. He glared at her. "Yes, yes, I'm sure you find this greatly amusing..."  
  
She could only nod helplessly. He dropped on the bed beside her, resting his head in his hands.  
  
"The television doesn't work, either," she aid casually, "And I think Daniela and Sanina had some kind of iced coffee concoction when they got into their room. I envy Chandra right now, being unconscious..."  
  
"Goddamnit!" Scott was shaking now.  
  
Ororo turned away, trying to hide the fact that she was laughing hysterically. After about five minutes, Scott snapped. "Would you please shut the hell up?! Just because my life is completely messed up right now, I don't need someone making a mockery out of it!" But when she turned an apologetic gaze to him, he was smiling slightly.  
  
"I am sorry, Scott, but I have been under a lot of stress, and I couldn't help it..." she shrugged.  
  
Scott nodded understandingly. "I completely know what you mean. It's ok, I don't really mind," he flopped backwards on the bed.  
  
Ororo stayed sitting, ramrod straight, wondering what had caused her outburst, and subsequent confession of stress. It was disturbing. She hardly ever let the other teachers see that side of her, let alone the students. Remy was the only person who could say that he had truly seen Ororo Munroe fully.  
  
The hands of the clock on the night table slowly crawled past 17:00, and she wondered what they were going to occupy themselves with for the time until the others were able to locate them. Suddenly, a long, strong arm pulled her back onto the bed, and Scott grinned at her. "You've been just sitting there for the last hour. Your back must be soar, and it was starting to make mine hurt."  
  
There was a sharp reprimand on the tip of her tongue, but for some reason, she was unable to utter it. Instead, she settled for a stern glance. Scott seemed not to notice or not to care, as he returned his gaze to the ceiling.  
  
She rested beside him, mind whirling with unanswerable questions until Mia and Joseph knocked at the door.  
  
She rolled to her feet, Scott close behind.  
  
Opening the door, she met the two visitors.  
  
"Heya, Ororo, Scott," said Mia, "We were just headed out for some dinner. We were wondering if you wanted to come with us."  
  
Ororo noticed that Joseph did not look thrilled, and from Scott's tensed muscles as he stood beside her, she could tell that he wasn't either. However, it was becoming monotonous just staring at the ceiling, so she readily agreed.  
  
"We'd like that," she answered, smiling. She and Scott slipped on their shoes, and the foursome headed outside. The night was cold, and snow lay in a thick blanket across the streets and grass. There was a White Spot right across the street, however, and they all walked in companionable silence to the restaurant.  
  
Arriving, they were shown to a seat almost as soon as they walked in the door. The interior was warm, compared to the chilly air outside, and Ororo shivered. They were lead to a booth, and Mia and Joseph slipped in together, snuggling up against each other. Ororo and Scott sat awkwardly beside each other, not willing to make any physical contact. They ordered their food, and Ororo decided that the silence had now crossed the line into uncomfortable.  
  
"So, Mia, Joseph, when did your powers first manifest?" Their booth was isolated from the rest of the restaurant, so she figured it would be safe to discuss anything.  
  
Mia shrugged. "Well, my mom and I had just finished dinner, and I was washing the dishes, and, well, I started to get really ticked at the water, because our drain plug wasn't working properly, and it kept draining. Then, it stopped draining. The plug hadn't magically fixed itself, and I soon understood that *I* was controlling the water, and holding it in the sink. After a while, I figured out to control this power at will and I can do a lot more with it than hold up some dishwater."  
  
"You had no help in learning to control your powers?" asked Scott, looking surprised.  
  
"Not really, no. When Chandra, Joseph and I first started the Phoenix Force, all three of us were a kind of support group for each other, and if any of us needed help with anything the other two would be there, but we all had our powers pretty much under control."  
  
"Amazing," murmured Ororo, the expression of wonder on her face reflecting her emotions.  
  
"What about you?" Scott asked Joseph. Ororo silently congratulated him on making an attempt at a civil conversation.  
  
"I'd rather not talk about it," Joseph said quietly, eyes burning into Scott's glasses until Scott looked away.  
  
"So," Mia switched topics, "Tell us about some of the people at this school.  
  
Ororo smiled. "There's Professor Xavier, who runs the school. He is a very powerful telepath, and he runs everything, as well as owning the mansion where the school is located. Aside from myself, there are two other teachers, Mr. Logan, and Dr. Henry McCoy. There are also about ten to twenty students, all Mutants."  
  
"Mmm..." Mia nodded thoughtfully.  
  
"Scott and another girl, Jean, were the Professor's first students. There are a wide variety of races and appearances at the school, as well as a large difference in temperament for each student."  
  
"I see," Mia smiled. She rose to her feet. "Excuse me, I have to go to the ladies' room..."  
  
Ororo stood up to join her. Glancing back at the two young men, glaring at each other across the table, she sighed. "Don't kill each other while we are gone," she warned. Scott gave her a reassuring glance, and Joseph smiled warmly at her. Joseph really was a nice person, Ororo decided, he seemed quiet, but with an inner strength that many people lacked. He was reserved, but not to the point of being stiff or cold.  
  
As Ororo stood before the mirror, adjusting her long white hair into something slightly stylish, she watched Mia from the corner of her eye. The young woman carefully applied lip-gloss, and straightened her shirt.  
  
"So, when're you going to tell him?" asked Mia suddenly.  
  
Ororo's eyebrows shot up. "Tell who what?"  
  
Mia rolled her eyes. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Tell Remy how you really feel!"  
  
Ororo's jaw dropped open. "Excuse me?!"  
  
Mia drew in a long, deep breath. "It's not that obvious, don't worry, I think it's only me and Scott who've noticed. Although, I'd say that Scott's a little pissed about the fact..."  
  
"Whaaa....Scott? I....huh?" Ororo silently berated herself for her oh so brilliant answer.  
  
Mia turned to face the windrider fully. "Ok. Look. I really didn't think I'd have to do this for you, but I'm going to spell it out. You are in love with Remy. Remy is too busy flirting with Daniela to notice, and Danny's quite happy to return the favor. Scott is in love with you, and you feel a little more than friendship towards him, too. I'm guessing that you think that because you think you can never have Remy, you'll settle for Scott. But from what I've overheard, Scott already has a girlfriend, back at the school, who is currently ill. He's worried like hell over her, but you're not so well yourself, not sleeping, and trying to be strong for everyone, so Scott feels the urge to care for you. He can't do anything for Jean, and he cares about you, so he's trying to watch out for you instead of Jean. And I'm pretty sure that it's going to go a lot farther than just replacing Jean, a lot faster than you think. Follow?"  
  
Ororo blinked rapidly. "Honestly, no," she admitted. "And how could you know all of this, anyway?"  
  
"I'm a good judge of character," Mia explained, turning back to the mirror. "One has to be when one is a leader."  
  
Ororo nodded in understanding. "I will think about what you said, Mia."  
  
Mia grinned, and headed towards the door. "That's all I ask, Ororo."  
  
When they returned to the table, the stare-off between Joseph and Scott had not changed a bit. Their food arrived at the same time the two women got back to the table, so there was no any uncomfortable pauses in the conversation could be covered by the need to eat. Ororo and Mia did most of the talking, with Joseph and Scott throwing in the occasional comment.  
  
When they left the restaurant, it was 20:30, and no one wanted to return to the hotel right then. They walked along the streets, not really caring where they went. After about half an hour of walking, they saw a brightly lit building up ahead.  
  
"Hey!" Mia grinned. "Looks like this town isn't as out of it as we thought!" It was a dance club, filled with people from about sixteen years of age to twenty-five. The group entered, Ororo flashing back to all the clubs she had been at with Remy. The music was loud, and their was a bar in a corner, where all one had to do to get alcohol was show their I.D.  
  
"My God, it's insane in here!" Joseph yelled over the music. Scott and Mia nodded their agreement.  
  
"We should dance," Mia called, grabbing Joseph's hand and dragging him off into the throngs of people. Scott looked at Ororo. Ororo looked at Scott.  
  
"God help us," she thought she heard Scott mutter, but she could have been mistaken.  
  
*  
  
Mia found a relatively clear spot on the dance floor, and grinned up at Joseph. He returned the smile warmly. The song changed, and Mia wrapped her arms around him.  
  
"All the leaves are brown,  
  
And the sky is gray,"  
  
She rocked in his arms, resting her head on his shoulder, feeling his warm embrace.  
  
"I've been for a walk,  
  
On a winters day,"  
  
Slowly, her mind began to wonder, back to when she first met Joseph. How she had practically kicked him out of her house, and how he had explained everything to her, and she had slowly accepted him.  
  
"I'd be safe and warm,  
  
If I was in LA,"  
  
She remembered how he had comforted her when her powers had gone out of control, and she had frozen the water pipes of over fifty houses, and caused a little girl to almost die of hypothermia.  
  
"California dreamin',  
  
On such a winters day."  
  
She remembered how he had been the only person to accept Sammy, even when Mia hadn't trusted the girl. And he had turned out to be right, of course, when Sammy ended up saving Mia's life.  
  
"Stopped in to a church,  
  
I passed along the way,"  
  
She remembered the first time they had kissed. The soft, gentle, tentative starts to something surpassing friendship, and that he had been just as nervous as she at the time.  
  
"Well, I got down on my knees,  
  
And I began to pray,"  
  
And she clearly remembered the betrayal in his eyes when he found out that she and the rest of the Gold subteam had been hiding the existence of the spacestation, and her own self-hatred when she looked back on their selfish reasons for doing so.  
  
"You know the preacher likes the cold,  
  
He knows I'm gonna stay,"  
  
And now they were here, together in each other's arms, and everything felt so right. She smiled, a warm feeling of contentment washing over her.  
  
"California dreamin',  
  
On such a winters day.  
  
All the leaves are brown,  
  
And the sky is gray,  
  
I've been for a walk,  
  
On a winters day.  
  
If I didn't tell her,  
  
I could leave today,  
  
California dreamin',  
  
On such a winters day."  
  
*  
  
The song ended, and Ororo glared up at the ceiling. She and Scott were still standing, uncertainly by the doors, not quite sure what to do. The DJ came up to the microphone, and called for everyone to find themselves a partner. A medium built man, with short red hair and dark brown eyes came up to Ororo. He was staggering slightly, and it wasn't hard to tell that he was drunk.  
  
"Hey...ya wanna dansh with me?" he asked her, leering openly. Ororo opened her mouth, but before she could speak the scathing remark that was on the tip of her tongue, Scott stepped in, firmly grasping her arm and turning her towards himself.  
  
"I'm afraid she already has a partner," he said calmly to the drunk man. "Why don't you go find someone else?" The man glared at Scott, but staggered off in search of another dance partner.  
  
"Thank you, Scott," Ororo smiled relievedly.  
  
Scott shrugged, looking embarrassed. "Ya..." he shrugged.  
  
And then the music started. Ororo's mind went into overdrive, then cut out altogether, and she found herself spinning around the dance floor with Scott, his arms tight about her one minute, twirling her away the next, their bodies pressing up against each other, then moving apart, and she couldn't care less about the fact that he was a student, and she a teacher, for they were of such close age, that it didn't seem to matter. The music drowned out all, and her mind spun in a sort of limbo, everything just a wonderful, exhilarating blur...  
  
"We go where we like  
  
We got over time  
  
We get paid to rattle our chains  
  
We go in the back  
  
Paint our money black  
  
Spend it on the enemy  
  
Sleeping in the church  
  
Riding in the dirt  
  
Put a banner over my grave  
  
Make a body work  
  
Make a beggar hurt  
  
Sell me something big and untamed  
  
Now our time  
  
Real good time  
  
Now our time  
  
NOW OUR TIME  
  
A real good time  
  
IT'S A REALLY GOOD TIME!  
  
Baaaaaaabe, you're mine  
  
We know how to pray  
  
Party everyday  
  
Make our desillation unsafe  
  
Riding in a rut  
  
Till' the powers cut  
  
We don't even have a good name  
  
Sleeping in the church  
  
Riding in the dirt  
  
Put a banner over my grave  
  
Make a body work  
  
Make a begger hurt  
  
Sell me something big and untamed  
  
Now our time  
  
Real good time  
  
Now our time  
  
Real good time  
  
Now our time  
  
NOW OUR TIME  
  
A real good time  
  
IT'S A REALLY GOOD TIME!  
  
yeah yeah yeah  
  
Baaaaaaabe, you're mine  
  
Doo doo doo doo...baby...I can fly...yeah  
  
Sell me something big and untamed  
  
Now our time  
  
now our time...  
  
Real good time  
  
real good time...  
  
Now our time  
  
NOW OUR TIME!  
  
Real good time  
  
IT'S A REALLY GOOD TIME!  
  
Now our time  
  
NOW OUR TIME)  
  
A real good time  
  
IT'S A REALLY GOOD TIME!  
  
Feel good  
  
Real good, It's the same old same  
  
Real good  
  
Feel good, don't got no more brains (x2)  
  
Baaaaaaabe, you're mine...  
  
Ororo, Scott, Mia and Joseph stumbled out of the club about an hour later. They were all laughing, and from somewhere behind them music still pounded.  
  
"This is my heart,  
  
This is my cause,  
  
This is my hit,  
  
It's better than yours..."  
  
None of them had touched the alcohol, but they may as well have, from the way they were acting. Mia and Joseph were leaning against each other, arms wrapped around each other, snatching kisses whenever they had the chance. Scott's arm was about Ororo, and she had her head resting on his shoulder. The wild, hazy insanity of the club was still with them, and they made the walk back to the hotel as if in some crazy, wonderful dream. Arriving in the lobby, laughing hysterically at a joke *someone* had told, the group split off to their separate rooms, calling cheerful good nights to each other.  
  
When they arrived in the room, Ororo collapsed on the bed, only taking time to kick off her shoes and pull down the first blanket. Half a moment later, Scott slipped in beside her. Under any other circumstances, they would have both been very, very uncomfortable with this, but at that moment, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up with them, they couldn't give a damn where they were lying, or with who. Scott's arm somehow found it's way about Ororo again, and they drifted off to sleep to the sound of Daniela and Sanina laughing and singing along with music in the next room.  
  
*^*^*^  
  
A/N3: There! You see? Longness!!! And two chapters in one night! (  
  
So, please, please, please review!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loooooooooooooooter 


	10. Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: What do you want me to do? Dress in drag (that would be awfully hard, cuz last time I checked, I'm female) and do the hula? I don't own Farscape...blah, blah, BLAH!!!

A/N: The reason why this chapter is messed up is because Thought didn't write it. The reason? She wouldn't write, and I have assumed the responsibility. Who am I you may ask? Well...that is just something you'll hafta figure out on your own.

A/N2: K, fine, it's Caliga! Be scared.

A/N3: Oh, and I suck at writing X-Men stuff, so...er...I'm not going to write it...I'll leave a full chapter of the X-Men mansion up ta Thought! **shuts up**

William woke up with a stomachache. He was hungry. Groaning, he rolled over on his bed to look at the digital clock to check the time, but instead rolled into Remy.

"Aaahhh!" he bounded out of the bed, not really expecting Remy to be sharing his bed. Kind of uncomfortable by the fact, he didn't even to check to see how he had responded to his reaction, and quickly left the room.

Everyone else was up except Scott, Ororo, and Remy. Though, Remy was probably up now. Daniela was sitting at the table, eating some kind of cereal, while the other three sat on the flower-patterned couch, watching some TV program.

"Nice boxers, Will!" Daniela called from the table.

"Shut up Dani..." William warned as he made his way to the three, who were chuckling at something that was happening on the screen.

"You know, this show really isn't that bad!" Joseph told Mia and Sanina, who rolled their eyes at each other.

"Whatcha watchin'?" William rested his elbows on the backrest of the couch.

"Oh, you're up!" Joseph knocked his arms out from under him.

"Do NOT...make me tongue you!" a deep male voice said on the screen.

"On second thought, I don't really want to know..."

The friends chuckled, "It's Farscape, Will," Sanina turned to look at him, and he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Yes. It sounds great, Joe. I'm gonna go eat with Dani --"

"Too late!" Daniela plopped down on the empty love seat and grinned at William, who didn't look impressed.

"Dani, you hate Farscape," Mia smiled at her.

"I know, but it's funnier this way!" she giggled at Will, who rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen.

"You all hate me!" he called back at them.

"YUP!" they called in unison.

Scott yawned and opened his eyes to Ororo's sleeping face. She was so close to him, not more than three inches away. Her hand was resting on his hip. He pushed the thought of affection away. This relationship was wrong. He half smiled at her and brushed a piece of white hair out of her flawless face. He heard laughing outside the door and then someone trying to hush them.

Still fully clothed, Scott gently put Ororo's hand on the bed and quickly checked his hair in the mirror. It stood up in all directions, and when he tried to mould it, it just sprang back. His face was also unshaven. What will a bunch of kids think anyway?

Ororo rolled over and murmured something in her sleep. Scott shook images out of his head that shouldn't have been there. He scratched his stomach and stretched as he made his way over to the door. When he turned the knob, he heard a female squeal. When he pushed it open, the six teenagers were walking around the main room suspiciously.

"Oh, morning, Scott!" Joseph smiled widely.

"We weren't eaves dropping! Nope!" Will shook his head rapidly as Daniela groaned and smacked him over the head.

"That's great, children..." Scott wasn't awake enough to deal with them, "How's Chandra?"

"She's still out of it," Nina said in a monotone sort of way.

"Where is she?" he asked Daniela, who stood still, staring at him for a moment.

"That's you..." Will said flicking her ear.

"Ow! Oh...OH! Haha...yes...um...what?"

"In there," Joseph pointed in the general direction of all the doors.

Scott raised his eyebrows and strained to see where Joe was pointing.

"Idiot! In..." Will grabbed his wrist and pulled him to an open room, "THERE!" and shoved him in.

"Wow," Scott mouthed to himself as he bent over Chandra's unconscious body on the bed. Her hair was sprawled all over her face and the blue flowered pillow. He checked her pulse. It was perfect, "Hmmm..."

"Has anyone tried giving her mouth to mouth?!" he shouted out the doorway. He heard a bunch of laughing.

"No, not really!" Mia called.

"What do you mean 'Not really'??" he ground his teeth together.

"We haven't, you go RIGHT ahead!" Daniela snorted.

Scott rolled his eyes, and left the room and went down three floors to the lobby. Remy had gotten up by the time he was back in the lobby/restaurant part of the hotel. William was sitting on the back of the couch, tapping Daniela's head at random intervals. Scott walked over to the pay phone in the corner, and called the mansion. There was no answer.

'Wonderful,' he thought, slamming the receiver back into its cradle. 'Just wonderful.'

"So, Scott, how'd your night with Ororo go?!" called Daniela, smirking.

Scott groaned, pounding his head hard in to the wall.

He was saved from answering when the manager walked up. "Excuse me?" he said politely to Scott, "But I'm going to have to ask you to check out before ten. We've got another group of guests who want to need the rooms."

"Okay...okay...hold your brains..."

The rest teenagers minus Joseph then came bursting out of the elevator and up to Scott, Ororo, and Remy, with their bags in hand. Will, who was in the lead, tripped over his coat and went flying, his bags, and everyone behind him, landed on his back.

"I'll be with you in a moment," the manager told them, ignoring the pile of teenagers and suitcases. Turning back to Scott, "Your bill is right here."

Scott took the long strip of paper, and turned to his group. "Ok, who has the money?" He asked. Ororo, who had now completed the little party looked at him blankly.

"I thought you had it?"

"You guys suck," William said bluntly. "Do you take cash?" he asked the manager.

"Uh..." he saw him pull out a huge wad of green bills, "YES! Yes we...we do..."

"Okay..." he flipped through the bills.

"Will, where the hell did you get all those bills?" Daniela asked him eyeing the money.

Will frowned at her, "None of your business!"

"I'VE BEEN ROBBED!" Joseph came into the lobby flailing his arms around.

"Oh. Um. That's bad," Will tried to discreetly put his green bundle behind his back.

"GIVE IT BACK YOU LITTLE JERK!!!!" Joseph flung himself at Will, giving him an all out body slam.

"Ow...damn...you..." Will groaned as Joseph pulled the money from his fingers and stood up.

"Psychos..." Daniela rolled her eyes.

"And I'm not using this to pay...it's for...other things..."

"Like...?" Mia asked

"Jewellery?" he blinked. She didn't look convinced; "Okay fine...he thrust most of the bills at the man. "You owe me!" he told Ororo, Scott, and Remy.

"I _never _said I would pay for this..." Ororo told him plainly.

"Neither did I!" Joseph was getting a little ticked, "Okay, fine...you all owe me..." Mia pouted, "'Cept you." He smiled at her.

The group of them walked out to the front of the hotel, chattering incessantly. Scott muttered something about why he was the one carrying Chandra out to the car.

"Uh uh...I am NOT doing that again!" Daniela declared to the eight others once she got a look at Mia's navy blue 2008 Porsche Cayenne Turbo.

"Yeah...as much as I love that car...really...really love that car, Mia, I really...do not want to squish in there either, especially now that we have Remy" William tried to look empathetic.

Mia sighed and shrugged.

"Don't you little kiddies remember that someone is going to pick us up from the mansion??" Scott told them as though they were about four.

"Oh. Yeah..." Sanina blinked. She didn't remember.

Scott turned to Ororo who smiled weakly.

"Do they know where we are??" Joseph raised his eyebrows and looked from Remy to Ororo. Scott obviously would just answer his question with a retarded...well, question.

"Uh..." Ororo looked as if she had suddenly been hit with a sharp object, "Of COURSE they do, silly!" she grinned a huge, fake grin.

"Hmm. That's good." Mia dropped her head back and looked up at the sky. "Oh...shit!!" she squealed suddenly after a long silence.

"WHAT?!" almost the entire group shouted at her. She stumbled back at their reaction.

"I uh...forgot one minor detail...that I, uh...was supposed to do today...back...back in South Africa." She was over come by a wave of stress.

"Are you serious??" Will asked.

"Yes, Brainless! Remember the new girl?"

"Oh. Yeah...'Shit' is definitely the word for that one," Joseph winced.

"'Tis wrong?" Remy looked rather angry.

"Well...there was this girl that we were thinking of adding to our group...I was supposed to meet her at my house...and sort of interview her..." She looked uncomfortable.

"Does she live in South Africa as well?" Ororo asked.

"No."

"Then how—"

"She can transform..." Joseph smiled at Mia.

"...into a dragon. And fly." Mia finished for him.

"Wow...that's...wow..." Scott looked over at Ororo discretely.

"Yeah, I know!" Mia stomped in frustration, and looked to Joseph for an idea.

"I dunno, Mi, I guess you'd better get going?"

A/N: Noticed the lack of skill yet? lol...yeah. Well. I hope that wasn't too special for you to handle!!


End file.
